ZombieMall.com 2014 Wrap-Up

ZombieMall.com 2014 Wrap-Up and a little exploring into what can be expected in 2015. 2014 was a crazy fun year for ZombieMall! We reviewed books! We reviewed movies! We even reviewed some scary ass coffee! We added a shopping cart, made some vampire stakes, and posted out some Zombie University Diplomas! We took in just […]

1,234 total views, 7 views today

Sean T. Page’s Alien Invasion Owner’s Resistance Manual – a review

Here… We… Go… A New Year! The hustle and bustle of the holiday season is behind me and I’ve been able to finally catch up on some reading. Me catching up reading also means me being able to type out some reviews, so let us jump right into it! Enjoy 2015 folks! Many years ago […]

1,389 total views, no views today

Zombie Advice on Ice

Just a small bit of advice for you Zombie Apocalypsers out there during the winter season. Sometimes I like to take walks and on this particular day I got to thinking about zombies and snow. This is the result. 1,548 total views, 22 views today

1,548 total views, 22 views today

What is a Zombie? Part One: Romero Zombie

This could be a long read folks…So I’m going to cut it down into smaller Parts for an easier read. In short I wanted to categorize what different types of zombies are out there so when you encounter one you know how to deal with the situation. There is the Romero zombie (as seen in […]

Listen… there is a guy who does kick-ass zombie art… (just one? – uhm.. no, but he is the only one that I am speaking about right now)

I was cruising through my shopping center a while ago and ran across this nifty deck of cards that was all zombied out and the artwork looked very familiar.. As I turned it onto it’s side, I saw that it was done by Rob Sacchetto. I bought 6 decks right then and there.

I’ve known of Rob’s works for several years now. I connected with him on Facebook (I’ll post his contact links at the bottom of this post) and over the years our virtual paths would cross, usually when we both would post on a mutual friend’s thread.

That is all behind me know, as I had a wonderful opportunity to sit down with him and do an interview for my ZombieMall Podcast/Radio show.

Bottom line, this guy knows what he is doing and has turned out some very awe inspiring zombie artwork.

I’ve seen some odd crossovers but this may very well be the strangest yet… This is a very unique combination of worlds in the geek and horror universe!

A Little History First:

The year 1990 saw the release of Predator 2 in the movie theater. Towards the end we were treated with a super cool scene in which the camera slowly pans over a small closet filled with different skull trophies that the Predators had taken. One of the skulls was an Alien skull. Yes, as in the same monster from the movie Alien (and it’s sequels).

BUT.. Did you know that this was not the 1st time these two creatures had a crossover? In 1989 (November and December) we saw two issues of a Dark Horse Presents comic (issues #34 and #35) that each detailed out a separate storyline, issue #34 for Aliens and issue #35 for Predator. In February, 1990, issue #36 came out and so began the 1st official crossover. Aliens Vs Predator soon became a major deal (and I like to believe that it is because of these comics that we saw that Alien’s skull in Predator 2) in the geek world and it spread like wildfire.

Soon AvP comics were everywhere and the what if scenarios seemed to have no end.

Aliens vs Predator was successful, to put it mildly. On it’s heals came many other crossovers; Superman and Batman vs Aliens and Predator, Aliens vs Predator vs The Terminator, no to mention the countless AvP spinoff comics. There have even been popular fan man videos of Batman vs Predator (Batman: Dead End look it up) posted on Youtube. To say that we hunger for this franchise would be an understatement.

Okay, enough history.. On to the review!

I was cruising through my local bookstore (sadly we do not have a comic shop where I live) and I chanced across issue 3 of Archie vs Predator from Dark Horse Comics. What in the world is this? Is this THE Archie that we all know and love? Is this THE Predator that we all know of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1987 movie? Yes, indeed!

How can this be? I mean, this idea is absurd (in a good geek way)! It makes no sense! Archie comics have been around since the late 1930’s and a crossover like this just makes no sense (in a thrilling I’ve never thought about this before kind of way)!

I HAD to have it. I thumbed through and found issues 1 and 2 and bought them all right there on the spot. I really wanted to do a review of each one, but since this is a 4 issue series I decided to compact my review into 1 post. I also decided to go a different route with this write up. Normally I would detail out what happens in each comic, but I decided to gloss over the story itself (I mean.. that’s the whole point of this review is to get you interested in buying them to read) and detail our some of the finer points of the comics themselves.

The short version: GO BUY THESE NOW.

The long version:

I really don’t want to give out any spoilers, but I will give a little info about each issue. You can also click on each cover to link directly to Dark Horse Comic’s page to read more about each issue (or you can hit up your local comic shop if you have one).

In each issue; Alex de Campi did the script with Fernando Ruiz doing the penciling, Rich Koslowski did the inking with Jason Millet doing the colors and John Workman doing the lettering.

This issue was released in April of 2015, it runs just over 20 pages. Spring Break is here and the gang is trying to figure out what to do. Jughead busts open a bag of Tayto-Chips and the gang has won a free tropical vacation to Los Perdidos Resort. Okay, I need to pause here. Once on the island, as you can imagine, things go wrong for our gang. As mentioned I really do not want to give away the storyline so I’ll stop right here, however… Los Perdidos… It means The Lost. Now, what’s REALLY cool about these 4 issues are all of the Easter Eggs hidden within!

Examine the pages of each issue closely and see how many you can find!

Issue 2

The cover says: Back in Riverdale, safe and sound!

Don Parent with Jason Millet did the standard cover art for this issue. Dustin Nguyen did variant cover A and Robert Hack with Stephen Downer did variant cover B.

This issue was released in May of 2015 and has just over 20 pages. Again, no spoilers but I will say that the death toll continues to rise! Sabrina the Teenage Witch is in this issue and speaks some words of Cthulhu origin. We learn that evidently Predators are known by some of the people in the Archie world and have been known for quite some time. Listen, the artwork here is fantastic, the pages are bright and colorful and slick. The adventure continues into…

Issue 3

The cover says: More victims! More mutilations! More Milkshakes!

Gisele with Maria Victoria Robado did the standard cover art for this issue. Paul Pope with Shay Plummer did variant cover A and Kelly Jones with Michelle Madsen did variant cover B.

This issue was released in June of 2015 and has just over 20 pages. Don’t let the cover fool you. The Predator is not a friendly being and the death count continues to grow. Speaking of covers.. for collectors there are a few different variant covers out there of each issue (as I have detailed out). Some are a bit darker than the whimsical ones I am presenting to you here.

Issue 4

The cover says: Frenemies No More!

Andrew Pepoy with Jason Miller did the standard cover art for this issue. Faith Erin Hicks with Cris Peter did variant cover A and Joe Quinones did variant cover B.

This issue came out Today, July 22nd (2015) and has just over 20 pages. This issue is the final one in a 4 part series. It is also chock full of action and mayhem! Pay real close attention to panel 1 on page 4. There are some throwbacks to earlier Archie comic crossovers (more Easter Eggs alluded to in my Issue 1 portion up above).

I really have nothing more to add. This was a rip roaring fun and insane crossover, something I’m very pleased with running across. I cannot recommend this 4 part series enough. If for any other reason just to have it to collect.

Speaking of collecting…

Hard Cover Edition of Archie vs Predator

Due out in November of this year (2015) is a special Hard Cover edition… If you head over to Dark Horse Comics now (you will actually be directed over to Things From Another World – a great place to buy comics online), you can pro-order it for only $15.99! As soon as payday hits, I’m pre-ordering one for myself!

That’s it folks! Bottom line is.. check this comic out! It’s a quality comic done up right on quality paper, it has a solid story and is just plain old fashioned comic book fun! Buy it!

Now.. if I can just figure out a way to convince Dark Horse Comics to entertain a pitch I have for my comic book…

As the name of my site indicates, we like zombies. When I heard that Arnold Schwarzenegger was going to be in a zombie flick, I thought to myself.. really? How is that going to work? I figured it was going to be a big budget action shoot-em-up kind of movie. Slowly, more details came in about the movie Maggie.

It also stars Abigail Breslin (from M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs and another zombie movie called ZombieLand) as Arnold’s daughter.

It came out with a very limited release in theaters and I never had the opportunity to see it. Upon it’s Blu-Ray release, I jumped at the chance to review it, and thus… I present to you… my review of Maggie:

Maggie is most certainly not an action packed movie. This is quite the opposite of anything you may expect from Arnold. It’s drama plain and simple. The over all story is not complicated in any way. It’s about a dad (Arnold) whose daughter (Abigail) is bitten by a zombie and over what seems to be a two week period, shows how she slowly turns into one. The movie focuses on Arnold and his take on what is going on.

From a cinematic view it’s beautifully shot. The colors everywhere are toned down to give it a more “dreadful” feel. It clocks in at just over an hour and a half and you feel every moment. That’s another way of saying that this movie is slow. Really slow. I mean even slower than that. There is not much dialog and there are slow moving shots of random backgrounds (the sky, woods, burning fields). All of these shots, I suppose, are to set up the bleak world setting.

There are LOTS of close up shots of faces. Tight shots, as they call it, which almost detracts from the movie itself. I get that they are trying to establish character development and emotions through tight silent shots, but I feel they went overboard here.

Zombies are not a main focus here. Yes, there are some peppered throughout, but they are there really just to show the disease itself. More on my thoughts about this at the bottom of the post.

The soundtrack is haunting and calming at the same time. There are no “jump out and go boo!” suspense moments, no spiked music as a cat jumps into frame, it’s just a nice movement of music complimenting the scenes.

The acting is great on all parts. My biggest hang up with Maggie is how slow the movie was. That hour and a half felt like three.

Blu-Ray Extras:

Director Commentary – I’ve not watched this yet. I’ll have to get myself into a slow moving mood before I can try.

Making Maggie Featurette – This was pretty neat, had a few interview segments and showed behinds the scenes elements.

Deleted Scene – just a short two minute deleted scene between Wade (Arnold) and his wife. This actually should have been included in the movie itself as it explained that Abigail’s mom in this film was actually her step-mom.

Cast/Crew Interviews – good material here for those interested. Interviews are of the director (Henry Hobson), the writer (John Scott III), Arnold, Abigail, and Joley Richardson (plays the step-mom).

Trailer Gallery – Shows the movie trailer

All in all, this movie is fine. It is not a must see from a zombie enthusiast’s perspective, but the way it all played out is beyond fascinating.

Earlier I mentioned about my thoughts about the element of Zombie in this movie. I really feel you could have easily exchanged this zombie virus for something else, such as cancer, aids, or even old age and you would have had the exact same movie. At the end of the movie, the zombie element is just not important to the story. It’s more about loss and watching a loved one degenerate before you.

Alex Garland is kindav on fire right now. You know the wildly successful indie sci-fi film called Ex Machina ? He wrote that. Zombie fans also know him from 28 Days Later the zombie film from director Danny Boyle.
On a side note, I don’t care what anyone says, the 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later flesh eating ghouls are zombies. You can read my justification for them being zombies here: What is a Zombie? Part Four: Rage Zombie
Okay, that said… Let’s jump back to the possibility of a 28 Months Later movie..

Alex Garland has stated to Indiewire that he is not a big fan of sequels, and had very little to do with the story of 28 Weeks Later (he was an Executive Producer but contributed little to the actual story – and some will argue that it’s in this movie that they really became zombies – but again I digress…). However, with that said, he also states that he organically came up with an idea for a continued 28 Days/Weeks movie. He has said that sequels are generally forced, either by pressure of fans or by pressure of the movie studio and because of that they can be rushed and can turn out being just okay instead of what the real vision with careful thought could be. (I kindav paraphrased there)

This go around, Garland has given the idea to the producer of the 1st two films, Andrew McDonald, who has been reported to be fleshing it out. It probably won’t be called 28 Months Later (but it could be). It certainly can’t be called 28 Years Later because it’s only been, what, 12 years since Days and 8 years since Weeks? Though, I supposed we could still Months as the 1st movie and 2nd movie were released 4 years apart and that’s certainly a fair amount more than 28 weeks.

What would you call it?

Of course, nothing is written in stone, but hey.. this is still some cool news of a cool zombie franchise!

We added a shopping cart, made some vampire stakes, and posted out some Zombie University Diplomas!

We took in just shy of about 800,000 unique hits over the past 12 months. Not too bad, but I really want to increase traffic.

This is where I need to reach out to you.

I need more stuff to review!

Do you have something that you want reviewed? A book that you have written, perhaps? Or a movie that you have made? Shoot me a message and let me know the details, I’d be more than happy to give it a whirl!Contact me via email ( dead@zombiemall.com ) or via our Facebook page: ZombieMall Facebook

I have two sites that I do my reviews on, and in some instances, where they fit, I cross post them. GameMasters.com hosts pretty much everything from games to movies to books to electronics. ZombieMall.com hosts pretty much everything horror related.

I missed the chance to see Horns in the movie theater. I wanted to see it on the big screen for a couple of reasons, but mainly I just wanted to see it.

It came out on DVD not too long ago (well.. okay, not too long ago as of my writing of this review – it came out on January 6th, 2015) and I finally managed to grab a copy.

Horns is based on the book (albeit a bit loosely), Horns, by Joe Hill. Joe Hill, in an attempt to distance his name from his father, is the son of Stephen King. His full name is Joseph Hillstrom King. You can certainly see where his pen name came from. I get why he did this, he wanted to succeed based on his own merits rather than ride on the coat-tails of his father.

Honestly, at this point, I’m not sure that it matters any more. He’s good at his craft, and I will most certainly read his books. I’m sure that, like some of his dad’s writings, some will be a big hit with me and some will be a miss. I’m not too worried about it, and I doubt Joe will lose any sleep over whether or not I read (or don’t read) something of his.

There are plenty of differences between the book and the movie, locations are a little different, characters are a little different, but the overall story is the same. I feel comfortable in saying that if you liked the book you will probably enjoy the movie. As I mentioned, it’s not an exact copy of the book and a lot of the symbolism in the writing was lost in the visual of the movie. That said, however, if you have not read the book you won’t notice!

If I had to sum up Horns into a category, I don’t think I could. It’s a little bit of horror, a little bit of romance, and a little bit of who-dun-it.

Daniel Radcliffe, Juno Temple, Max Minghella, Joe Anderson, Heather Graham and David Morse are among the more stand out actors (and actresses) in Horns.

Let’s Get Real:

We all have had that one love in our life, that one that we loved and lost. The one we think about, but try not to think about. Ignatius (everyone calls him Iggy or Ig – played by Daniel Radcliff) has found such a love in Merrin (played by Juno Temple). She is his everything.

When she is found dead, the town thinks that Ig did it. Ig awakens one morning to find horns growing out of his head. No one seems to think anything of it, but almost everyone feels compelled to spill their most intimate secrets to him.

I typically don’t like to give a step by step, blow by blow account of what happens in the movies I review, and I’m not going to do that here, but I will say that Horns provides a run ride in watching Ig deal with his new found power.

I’ve seen several reviews that attempt to mirror this movie to the pseudo-vampire movies, Twilight. While Harry Potter Horns is not, neither is it Twilight (well, okay my little slam against those shimmering vampires – I watched the 1st one and none of the others – oh.. and vampires do not fucking sparkle).

They are different movies after all. While casting Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame and Joe Anderson of Twilight fame, I’m positive the casting was done to pull in those respective movie’s fan base. In the end it is all an attempt to make cash, right?

The Nitty Gritty:

Nudity, there is some. Not much, but there is some. There is a little Radcliffe ass and a little Juno ass and boob. It’s a little uncomfortable where they placed it, because the scene that comes (no pun intended) just before it is a flash-back of them being kids. It’s just a strange transition.

Gore, is there gore? Yeah. Blood, open wounds, missing fingers, and a blown up head. Yeah, there is blood and guts. It is rated R.

There is a disturbing assault scene in which we see how Merrin is killed, I didn’t care for that, never have.

The special effects were really good, everything actually looked in place. Did that come out right? What I mean is.. well.. you know how some CGI in movies just looks fake? The CGI in Horns is really good.

DVD Extras:

It just has one extra and that is the Making of Horns. It’s not exactly a making of, as it more of just a long advertisement for the movie. There is not really much substance to it, a couple of clips from the movie, Joe Hill talks a bit about the characters, and a few of the actors are interviewed about their characters.

About 13 minutes in we do get to see some good behind the scenes stuff with how they made the horns and fitted them to Radcliffe.

The Making of Horns is just over 18 minutes long.

And that’s it.

No commentary, no deleted scenes, nothing else.

As I understand it, the Blu-Ray offers nothing else other than the Making of Horns.

Wrap-Up:

All in all, Horns is a fun ride. Yeah, there are things I would have changed, and elements I would have explored more of, but by the time I got done with it, it probably would not be the same movie at all.

When I first sat down to watch Kevin Smith’s Tusk, I didn’t really know what to expect. I mean, I kindav knew what it was about (a guy tries to turn another guy into a walrus) and I was familiar with how it came to be (it was sparked by an idea that Kevin and cohost Scott Mosier riffed on during their Smodcast podcast), but I had no idea if this was going to be a serious approach to horror or if it was going to make fun of and poke at the genre.

Immediately the movie drew me in, as I was able to identify with the main character, Wallace, because he is a podcaster. A podcaster, you see, is something that I do as well. Perhaps you have heard of my podcast, ZombieMall.net?

Oh? You don’t know of it? That’s okay, I suffer from not being consistent with it. I also have discovered that I do much better when I have someone to riff with as opposed to just jabbering away solo. Being stuck out in the middle of nowhere, it’s difficult to find someone who will consistently hang out with me to do a weekly podcast… Sorry… I digress…

Wallace.. a podcaster.. has a cohost played by Haley Joel Osment of Forrest Gump and The Sixth Sense fame. Together they riff back and forth cracking vulgar jokes and having laughs. And fuck me if they don’t boast that they made $100k on their podcast. I’m going off on a slight tangent here so please forgive me… Yes, Tusk takes place in a fictional world. With that said, I have to believe that many elements included were based on some form of reality. One such is that a podcast CAN make $100k! I actually have to pay to keep mine up and going. I need to be schooled so bad on the concept of how to make money with a podcast.. Okay, okay, sorry for that. Back to topic.

Tusk also features Michael Parks, Johnny Depp, and Genesis Rodriguez. For those paying real close attention there are some cool scenes with others in Smith’s world, Johnny Depp’s daughter, Lily-Rose Depp. Kevin Smith’s daughter, Harley Quinn, and his wife Jennifer also show up. There is also a cool cameo appearance by Epic Meal Time’s Harley Morenstein.

The Concept:

Wallace has a hit podcast and travels to Canada to interview the Kill Bill Kid, a guy that posted a video online showing him goofing off with a sword and accidently chopping his own leg off. Once in Canada, Wallace finds that the KBK killed himself, leaving Wallace with no interview content for his podcast.

While taking a piss Wallace runs across a flyer from a man, Howard Howe, who has a room to rent, and in exchange he just wants to be able to talk about his past adventures at sea. Wallace feels that this could be a gem in the rough for his podcast and takes a trek out to meet this guy.

Wallace meets up with Howard and begins a conversation. From that conversation things pick up speed and holy shit… and what the fuck… A walrus with TUSKSSSs!

WTF Indeed:

About ¼ of the way into the movie I started to suspect that perhaps Kevin Smith was making fun of the horror genre. A little further in and I was no longer sure of that. By the time it was over I could not decide what I had just watched. Like I mentioned, at first I kindav suspected he was poking fun at the horror genre, but upon finishing it, there just was no evidence that he was doing that. This was not a parody film, it was a very serious take on horror.

I think I might classify it is a dark horror peppered with a shade of humor?

I will say this, the buzz on the internet drops viewers into two categories:

Those who love it and those who hate it.

I fall into the 1st, I loved it. It actually went where it teased to go. You don’t see that happen in movies very often. You know, where the bad guy makes a threat but the good guys stop him in time? Yeah, well, Tusk follows through, and I think that is why I like it so much.

The Extras:

The extra features (both DVD and BlyRay have the same extras) are certainly worth getting this movie for. Several behind the scene videos, hosted by Jason Mewes, show how Tusk came to be. Certainly great material for those looking for extra insight as to how movies get made.

We also have 2 deleted scenes, both of which are introduced by Kevin explaining why they were not used.

There is also a commentary track from Kevin Smith.

In Closing:

If you are looking for something fun and something bizarre, Tusk is certainly a movie to add to your collection.

I got The Mind is a Razor Blade by Max Booth III and when I opened it, you won’t guess what happened next!

I turned the page! I kept doing that until I had finished the book! OMG!

Okay.. I’ll admit it, I’m not very good at doing a grab like other websites are. You know..

“This man found a box and you won’t believe what was inside!”

or…

“A woman bought a house and won’t believe what she discovered in the basement!”

Oh well. I’ll try another time.

Okay, where was I? Oh yeah.. I read The Mind is a Razor Blade by Max Booth III. What actually happened next didn’t actually happen after I read it, it started to happen during the very first chapter.

What happened ZombieMall? What happened??!?

Well.. In the 1st chapter our main character wakes up in the pouring rain, naked, and next to a river. He also has no memory of who he is. THAT is when a seed was planted, THAT is what actually happened next that I mentioned a few sentences ago…

ZombieMall.. you have gone off the deep end. You are talkin’ gibberish now.

Okay, let me back up..

I read Max’s book Toxicity a while ago. Then I read his novella, Black. The moment I picked up The Mind is a Razor Blade, I started to suspect something. I started to formulate a theory.

Yeah? Go on..

My theory is that all three of the writings are connected. As in.. they all take place in the same universe… I’ll explain..

A lot of writers create an entire universe in which their tales take place. Look at pretty much anything Stephen King writes; the most recent example that rolls off the top of my head, IT and Under the Dome – in IT there is a symbol in the cave, above a door, where they find the creature. In Under the Dome, that same symbol shows up. It’s a tiny connection, but a connection it is.

Back to Max’s books; Toxicity introduces a drug called Purple. When inhaled it causes one to “see” things. In this instance it is black flies. It also causes one to go into a strange trippy frenzy in which almost anything can seemingly happen. One moment you can be flying, the next you may see zombies. And there is Johnny Desperation… (wait for the bonus!)

Fast forward to The Mind is a Razor Blade.. While flies are not here, there are black spiders. BrianSpiders, uh er.. I mean BrainSpiders. We also have a character named Indigo.. Kindav a, how should I put this, a ring-leader, of sorts. He seems to be a head guru for a cult following a demon they call Conundrae. And there is.. (wait for the bonus!)

The world in which this all takes place seems.. oddly familiar as well. When our lost soul awakens and starts to stumble around the city we see total chaos. Almost as if…

Ahh.. but I gotta wait to explain that.. THAT’S the bonus at the end of the review!

NOW, step backwards to Max’s novella Black. Charlie and a demon. Not flies, not spiders, but oh yes, indeed there are thousands of insects.. and.. of course.. there is the demon. While it’s never given a name (at least not that I can recall), for the sake of my theory, I’m going to consider it to be Conundrae.

Did that blow your mind?

Put simply, Max has weaved a very complex universe (and in only 3 books!). Yes, I may be trying to read way too much into all of this, but isn’t that the point? I mean.. If you like something you read, isn’t it your job to explore every shadowy corner contained within those writings?

But ZombieMall, there is not much of a review here! And what about the bonus?

If you have failed to see my review here, then to be totally blunt, you have missed the entire point of what I have written. And the bonus.. the bonus will be given in just a moment.

For now let me break it all down; Would I put this much thought and consideration into trying to connect these books together if I didn’t enjoy them? Hell no! Hell yes, I loved The Mind is a Razor Blade, and just because of my personal theory I WILL get Max’s next book just so I can confirm it for myself.

I’d say that, all in all, makes this one hell of a review, it’s a damn good book. Go buy it, hell buy all of his books.

Okay kids, this bonus is for the Max Booth III fans. My theory that at least two of Max’s books are connected turns out to actually have some merit. Check this shit out; Johnny Desperation is actually in both Toxicity and The Mind is a Razor Blade. It took me 3 reads to catch it (plus some prompting from Max himself), but oh yes, Johnny is most certainly confirmed as being in both books. Plus there is this little bit that Max told me during a little chat:

Max Booth III: “Razor actually takes place as an aftermath of the drug introduced in toxicity. But I’ve never told anyone that before. Haha.”

Howard Boling is a friend from way back. Warhammer 40k, rolling dice, painting miniatures, and general bullshitting is what we had in common… at first.

I discovered he was a wrestler (yes, what you guys call “fake” wrestling – but there is nothing fake about it) and kick-boxing. Occasionally we would spar; his favorite technique was to kick my shins until I could no longer stand. Come to think of it… I don’t think that I ever actually landed a single kick or punch on him…

That was always okay, I never wanted anyone to let me win. I wanted to win because I was better than the person I was going up against. In this instance, he was the teacher, I was but the learner.

A few months back I learned that Howard had published a book. I had no clue what it was about (at that time), I just knew that I wanted a copy because I figured that he could, once again, teach me something.

What I got in the mail was both a lesson and a book.

Hell’s Castaway by Howard Boling.

Within is not a tale of fiction, oh no. It is very much real.

As I read page after page, I realized that Howard was once again teaching me a lesson. Again he was the teacher and I was the student.

What did he teach me? It breaks down like this…

Hell’s Castaway is a book of poetry. It is dark and it is full of pain, and it is from the heart. That is what I learned, Howard had pain in his life, just as I had in mine. I never knew of this torture within him when I met him all those years ago.

I am sure we all have days that we just want things to stop, but we move on. We have hope that things will get better. That is what Howard taught me after all these years. No, not to have hope, but that others out there suffer just as I had, that there are others out there that were just like me.